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Examining
Moderating Influences in a Retailing Context
K. Seiders
G.B. Voss
D. Grewal
A.L. Godfrey
Associate Professor of
Marketing
Carroll School of
Management
Boston College
seiders@bc.edu
Associate Professor of
Marketing
Department of Business
Management
North Carolina State
University
gvoss@ncsu.edu
Doctoral student
University of Texas
Andrea.godfrey@phd.
mccombs.utexas.edu
ABSTRACT
In this research, the authors propose that the relationship between satisfaction and repurchase
behavior is moderated by customer, relational, and marketplace characteristics. They further
hypothesize that the moderating effects emerge if repurchase is measured as objective behavior but
not if it is measured as repurchase intentions. To test for systematic differences in effects, the authors
estimate identical models using both longitudinal repurchase measures and survey measures as the
dependent variable. The results suggest that the relationship between customer satisfaction and
repurchase behavior is contingent on the moderating effects of convenience, competitive intensity,
customer involvement, and household income. As the authors predicted, the results are significantly
different for self-reported repurchase intentions and objective repurchase behavior. The conceptual
framework and empirical findings reinforce the importance of moderating influences and offer new
insights that enhance the understanding of what drives repurchase behavior.
39
Figure 1:
A framework of examining moderators of the relationship between customer
satisfaction and repurchase
40
41
Table 1
Moderators of the Association Between Satisfaction and Repurchase
Study
Customer
Characteristics
Relational
Characteristics
Marketplace
Characteristics
Bolton (1998)
Bowman and
Narayandas
(2001)
Loyalty (+)
Bowman and
Narayandas
(2004)
Size ()
Account
management tenure
(+)
Satisfaction with
competitor (+)
Burnham, Frels,
and Mahajan
(2003)
Relational switching
costs (n.s.)
Procedural
switching costs
(n.s.)
Financial switching
costs (n.s.)
Capraro,
Broniarczyk,
and Srivastava
(2003)
Defection/Repurchase (SR)
Health insurance
Longitudinal
Contractual service
Garbarino and
Johnson (1999)
Homburg and
Giering (2001)
a. Recommendation Intentions
(SR)
b. Brand Repurchase Intentions
(SR)
c. Dealer Repurchase Intentions
(SR)
Auto manufacturer/dealer
Cross-sectional
Contractual goods and
services
Jones,
Mothersbaugh,
and Beatty
(2000)
Length of
experience (+)
Objective
knowledge (n.s.)
Subjective
knowledge (n.s.)
Relational
orientation ()
Income
SP (: a, b,
c) SSP (+:
a, b)
Involveme
nt: SSP
(: b)
Gender:
SP (+m:
c) SSP
(+f: b)
Age
SP (+: a, b,
c) SSP (:
b)
Variety seeking
SP (: a, b, c)
Interpersonal
relationships ()
Switching costs ()
Attractiveness of
alternatives (+)
42
Table 1
Continued
Dependent Variable(s)
Context and Design
Customer
Characteristics
Magi (2003)
Economic
orientation
(: a; n.s.: b)
Personalizing
orientation (: a, b)
Apathetic shopping
orientation
(n.s.: a, b) Age
(n.s.: a, b)
Purchase volume
(+: a; n.s.: b)
Mittal and
Kamakura
(2001)
Verhoef (2003)
Relationship age
(+: a; n.s.: b.)
Verhoef, Franses,
and Hoekstra
(2002)
Relationship age
(n.s.: a; +: b)
Current Study
Study
Involvement
Household income
Relational
Characteristics
Marketplace
Characteristics
Urban versus
suburban (n.s.)
Relationship age
Relationship
program
participation
Competitive
intensity
Convenience of
offering
43
44
Relational Characteristics
Marketplace Characteristics
45
46
47
48
Table 2
Descriptive Statistics and Correlation Matrix for the Constructs of Interest
1. Satisfaction
2. Involvement
3. Household income
4. Relationship age
5. Relationship program
participation
6. Convenience
7. Competitive intensity
8. Repurchase intentions
9. Repurchase visits
10. Repurchase spending
Overall
Mean
(Standard
Deviation):
N = 945
Postal Mail
Mean
(Standard
Deviation):
N = 669
E-Mail Mean
(Standard
Deviation):
N = 276
4.34
(.72)
4.03
(.73)
58,776
(20,254)
3.13
(2.44)
.29
(.45)
3.89
(.54)
7.45
(10.39)
4.31
(.70)
4.13
(9.62)
326.68
(1083.00)
4.36
(.71)
3.99*
(.74)
59,941*
(20,500)
3.39*
(2.68)
0
(0)
3.88
(.53)
7.59
(10.55)
4.29
(.71)
3.27*
(9.03)
237.97*
(644.33)
4.29
(.74)
4.14*
(.70)
55,952*
(19,394)
2.50*
(1.56)
1
(0)
3.92
(.55)
7.12
(10.03)
4.36
(.68)
6.22*
(10.65)
541.72*
(1718.80)
1.0
.27
1.0
.06
.05
.01
.10
.06
1.0
.04
.10
.09
.17
.66
.28
.02
.09
.03
.01
.03
.03
.01
.02
.00
.53
.48
.06
.03
.04
.47
.00
.07
.10
.01
.03
.14
.11
.01
.11
.07
.11
.00
.00
.13
.10
.03
.10
*Means are significantly different across groups (p < .01); correlations |.07| are significant at p < .05 (two-tailed test).
1.0
1.0
1.0
1.0
1.0
1.0
.74
49
50
Table 3
Regression Analysis Results
51
Figure 2
Significant Interaction Plots
DISCUSSION
The marketing concept, which proposes that
customer satisfaction should be the focal point
of business activities, is based on the explicit
assumption that satisfied customers repurchase
more and therefore are more profitable. In
questioning this fundamental assumption, we
predicted that customer, relational, and
marketplace characteristics would moderate the
relationship
between
satisfaction
and
repurchase behavior but not repurchase
intentions. In a specialty retailing context, we
find that satisfaction has a strong positive effect
52
53
54
Figure 4
Summary of Hypothesized Results
55
56
Lambda
Item Descriptions
Decision Convenience
I can easily determine prior to shopping whether SR will offer what I
Deciding to shop at SR is quick and easy.
I can quickly find information before I shop to decide if SR has what
Im looking for.
Access Convenience
I am able to get to SR quickly and easily.
SR offers convenient parking.
SR offers convenient locations.
SR offers convenient store hours.
Average
Variance
Extracted
.75
.52
.82
.54
.89
.73
.84
.57
.80
.61
.82
.50
.79
.79
.59
.87
.67
Transaction Convenience
I am able to complete my purchase quickly at SR.
SR makes it easy for me to conclude my transaction.
It takes little time to pay for my purchase at SR.
.84
.93
.78
Benefit Convenience
It is easy to find the products I am looking for at SR.
I can easily get product advice at SR.
The merchandise I want at SR can be located quickly.
It is easy to evaluate the merchandise at SR.
.80
.59
.85
.75
Postbenefit Convenience
SR takes care of product exchanges and returns promptly.
Any after-purchase problems I experience are quickly resolved at
SR.
Construct
Reliability
.74
.73
57
.76
Satisfaction
I am pleased with the overall service at SR.
Shopping at SR is a delightful experience.
I am completely satisfied with the SR shopping experience.
.82
.87
.88
Involvement
I have a strong personal interest in stores like SR.
Stores like SR are very important to me.
The kinds of products SR sells are important to me.
.81
.92
.84
Repurchase Intentions
How likely are you to shop more often at SR in the future?
How likely are you to continue shopping at SR?
.80
.84
Fit Statistics
Chi-square (degrees of freedom = 1363)
Nonnormed fit index
Comparative fit index
2351.60
.93
.94
.90
.74
.89
.73
.81
.68
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